Computer boots fine, Slows to a crawl within 10 minutes...

[PDXMicro]

Did these symptoms just start? You didn't mention anything about speakers in your initial post.

Yes, this just happened - however, I don't believe it's the culprit, I think it was just a coincidence that it happened at the same time. He's been using his computer now for 2+ days and it has not froze up once or slowed down since... I really don't feel comfortable calling it good - especially when I did not do something that I think fixed it. I'm really starting to believe now that it's a motherboard driver issue (can't be the addon card drivers because those worked before with no issues). He wants to hold on to the computer and use it while giving me any updates as to when/how the computer is locking up or slowing down. He's really happy that it's working right now though... I don't want to leave it like this, but the customer is pretty much set on leaving it how it is until he wants to upgrade 5-6 months from now...

 

[studiot]

Did you even read my post?

Pity you didn't take your own advice with my post. If you don't know how to use the system configuration utility to diagnose driver issues ask and you may get a reasonable discussion.

Like me you obviously joined before a measure of intro was compulsory, as I couldn't find one in your post list.

Doing this really helps pace a reply.

 

[PDXMicro]

Pity you didn't take your own advice with my post. If you don't know how to use the system configuration utility to diagnose driver issues ask and you may get a reasonable discussion.

Like me you obviously joined before a measure of intro was compulsory, as I couldn't find one in your post list.

Doing this really helps pace a reply.

Who are you to come on here to say that I don't know how to use the system configuration utility? Did it even strike you the least bit that maybe I was too busy and didn't get a chance to get back to the diagnostics mode and remove drivers one-by-one? Did it even strike you the least bit that I had another reason for not fussing with diagnostics mode to try another troubleshooting step - like the Ubuntu Live CD that just got done burning? Funny how you immediately jumped to conclusions believing me as incompetent. If you want to do nothing but bash me, don't reply...

 

[studiot]

Who are you to come on here to say..............

Why so sensitive?

I did not say what you can or cannot do, I really don't know.

Several members have suggested a close look at the drivers and in my first post I suggested a method of doing this.

You certainly didn't read it properly because you have just fed back the exact opposite!

There is certainly no call for you to take poke at the other members who have offered help or suggestions.

Have you yet determined the actual cause of the slowdown?

 

[PDXMicro]

I stated in my very first post that I also believed it was the drivers. I uninstalled and reinstalled the drivers multiple times, even going back to earlier versions with no luck (including flashing the BIOS to multiple versions). Yes, this wasn't specifically said - especially since I thought it had a very slight chance that it could have been something else. The whole point of me posting this on here was to see if anyone else ran into this problem, any other advice or recommendations were a plus (if they weren't already obvious troubleshooting steps). I certainly didn't expect to have someone give me flack as you have. As I stated in my other post, the customer is happy that his computer has worked for 2-3 days now - although I don't comfortably believe the issue is fixed, he said he wants to deal with it until it either gets really bad or 5-6 months go by when he's ready to upgrade.

 

[Methical]

Like Menaice said, this will in no way help resolve the problem, it's a fresh install. Since the pc worked fine in diagnostics mode, I would bet the bank it's a driver issue.
.

My name is Methical; but hey ... I'll let it slide this time

 

[PDXMicro]

I do want to say thank you to everyone for giving me some good advice and recommendations. I've never seen this before and I spoke with a few sister companies that also have never seen this happen. I'm still not comfortable with how it turned out - but if it spurs up again and the computer comes back before upgrade time, I'll fill everyone in when the problem is found.

Arguments aside, I believe TechNibble has a great and helpful community and I look forward to contributing to it. Studiot - just try not to sit on your holy chair when replying to others asking for help or advice. Posting that you pity someone is very demeaning. I'm sure that no one needs that.

 

[NickCat11]

My name is Methical; but hey ... I'll let it slide this time

LOL, I don't know what I was thinking there. It won't happen again!

 

[studiot]

If I make a mistake or inadvertantly upset someone I apologise, including on the web.

So if I inadvertantly upset you I apologise.

However with regard to the SCU I stand by what I said.

You said you entered diagnostic mode but didn't have the time to selectively disable drivers.

This is incorrect as in this mode you selectively enable drivers.

This is what I said in my posts.

The mode for selectively disabling is called 'selective mode'
Where you can disable single or bunches (win.ini etc).

The distinction is quite important as with selective mode you start with a full set and gradually disable until the pc suddenly starts working properly.

With diagnostic mode you do the opposite start with the minimum set needed to actually boot Windows and gradually enable until the PC stops working properly.

There are other places to look as well, for instance have you investigated the 'hidden devices' in Device Manager?

Although you reinstalled with presumably no malware if the pc is connected to other equipment, even a usb dongle, it is possible that something is transferring from there.

I also repeat my question why did you replace the motherboard? Yes obviously it was faulty, but you have given no clue as to the fault. Did this fault impact on the rest of the hardware and so is it still partly there?

No I don't pity or judge you in any way. I simply don't know how good a Tech you are or how long you have been at it since you haven't told us.

So I offered and am still offering some suggestions in good faith.

 

[PDXMicro]

If I make a mistake or inadvertantly upset someone I apologise, including on the web.

So if I inadvertantly upset you I apologise.

However with regard to the SCU I stand by what I said.

You said you entered diagnostic mode but didn't have the time to selectively disable drivers.

This is incorrect as in this mode you selectively enable drivers.

This is what I said in my posts.

The mode for selectively disabling is called 'selective mode'
Where you can disable single or bunches (win.ini etc).

The distinction is quite important as with selective mode you start with a full set and gradually disable until the pc suddenly starts working properly.

With diagnostic mode you do the opposite start with the minimum set needed to actually boot Windows and gradually enable until the PC stops working properly.

There are other places to look as well, for instance have you investigated the 'hidden devices' in Device Manager?

Although you reinstalled with presumably no malware if the pc is connected to other equipment, even a usb dongle, it is possible that something is transferring from there.

I also repeat my question why did you replace the motherboard? Yes obviously it was faulty, but you have given no clue as to the fault. Did this fault impact on the rest of the hardware and so is it still partly there?

No I don't pity or judge you in any way. I simply don't know how good a Tech you are or how long you have been at it since you haven't told us.

So I offered and am still offering some suggestions in good faith.

I apologize if I took your reply the wrong way, maybe I was very frustrated with the problem and read it wrong. For that, I'm sorry...

I was unaware that there was such a thing as hidden devices - so that was not checked. Thank you for that recommendation and I will be sure to try that if the computer returns to me.

In regards to the motherboard, I am not aware of exactly what was faulty (20-pin motherboard connector maybe?). The computer didn't boot at all. When the power button was pressed, nothing would happen. The circuit was obviously cut somewhere. Even the power supply fan (including all other fans and hard drives in the computer) would not turn on. I first tested to see if the power switch was bad - instead of using the switch I put a screwdriver to the two pins on the board to create a circuit and it still wouldn't turn on. I proceeded to take out the power supply thinking it might have been faulty. Once the power supply was connected to my tester, the power supply fan would turn and the connectors would test fine. This is why the motherboard was replaced. Once it was replaced, the computer booted fine until this issue happened. There were no devices other than the required (mouse, keyboard, video, LAN) that were plugged in when the issue happened.

 

[Tweak]

On the showing hidden devices comment this comes to mind...

http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/811/xp_vista_remove_hidden_devices/

 

[PDXMicro]

On the showing hidden devices comment this comes to mind...

http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/811/xp_vista_remove_hidden_devices/

Awesome, never knew this. Thanks

 

[Tweak]

Awesome, never knew this. Thanks

Can be extremely useful, you're welcome.

 

[studiot]

Also to show hidden devices

Device Manager> View > tick 'show hidden devices'

(( ditto thanks for the link Tweak - I've always done it as above and never looked further - good discussion is how we learn new stuff))

One point about these is that some malware install themselves as devices and you have to remove them from here.

I suggest you review you understanding of the interaction between the power supply and the motherboard.

In particular the front panel switch is meant to provide momentary contact only to initiate the boot sequence. This switch is a fairly frequent fault. Did you test it?

 

[Tweak]

Also to show hidden devices

Device Manager> View > tick 'show hidden devices'

(( ditto thanks for the link Tweak - I've always done it as above and never looked further - good discussion is how we learn new stuff))

One point about these is that some malware install themselves as devices and you have to remove them from here.

I suggest you review you understanding of the interaction between the power supply and the motherboard.

In particular the front panel switch is meant to provide momentary contact only to initiate the boot sequence. This switch is a fairly frequent fault. Did you test it?

Good discussion indeed, I like it here because others doing the same thing...I do not find that anywhere else, find this tweak great when dealing with usb and printers as well as problematic drivers. Just be aware for those that aren't the "ghosted" or greyed out devices under Network Adapters should be left alone, pretty much the same for audio unless it is a specific device, say Sound Blaster, Realtek, etc.)

 

[PDXMicro]

I suggest you review you understanding of the interaction between the power supply and the motherboard.

In particular the front panel switch is meant to provide momentary contact only to initiate the boot sequence. This switch is a fairly frequent fault. Did you test it?

Thanks for the suggestion, although I believe in my recent post I clearly described exactly what you just said. I discussed in an earlier post that I disconnected the front panel switch from the board and put a screwdriver to the leads on the board to bypass the switch. This was done to see if the computer (like you said) would start the boot sequence. Obviously this tested to see if the switch itself was bad - which it turned out not to be.

 

[thor999]

Did you happen to install any of the "gimmick" progs packaged w/ newer mobos? I've seen some of those asus overclocking progs suffer apparent memory leaks over time. Sorry if I missed it, but you did run MSConfig and disable all programs and start items and tried rebooting from there? These are true shots in the dark, only investigate after following earlier posts... smacks of driver issue / conflict.